Recent Opinions

It’s time to call all of these hate acts against people of color what they are: acts of terrorism. We must stop tiptoeing around this word, terrorism, which makes us uncomfortable, because the use of the word “terrorism” to describe the actions of part of the American population will make its perpetrators aware of our hypocrisy.

Growing up, I longed for people to view me as intelligent. I loved being associated with the adjective smart, and I, in turn, also complimented others’ intelligences freely. It wasn’t until later that I realized how damaging and invalidating that simple praise could be.

Jane Shaw named new dean for religious life

The Very Reverend Jane Shaw has been named dean for religious life at Stanford University, Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 announced Monday.

Shaw, 51, will also join the faculty at the Stanford Department of Religious Studies.

As dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco since 2010, Shaw oversaw the growth in all areas of the cathedral’s community life. During Shaw’s deanship, the church’s artistic, cultural and educational events tripled.

Currently Shaw is also a visiting scholar at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in Behavior Sciences. A historian and theologian, she has authored a number of books and is currently working on a book on spirituality and mysticism in the early 20th century.

“We are lucky to have found in Jane Shaw both a charismatic leader and an accomplished academic to lead our Office for Religious Life,” Etchemendy said to the Stanford News Service.

Shaw received her undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford and holds an MDiv from Harvard and a Ph.D. in history from UC-Berkeley. Prior to joining Grace Cathedral, she taught history and theology for 16 years at Oxford where she was Dean of Divinity and Fellow of New College.

Shaw will commence her position as Stanford’s spiritual leader this fall, succeeding Reverend William “Scotty” McLennan, Jr., who is stepping down after 14 years.

there is a need for religious life on the campus. it is a secular institution. best wishes for success in this designation, of course

Candid One

Stanford was established as secular institution, purposely. Still, if your myopia doesn’t let you see all of the religious group activity around campus, your own agenda must be obscuring that reality. “Religion my way” is the attitude that the Stanford heritage has sought to avoid. All religion is welcomed, none above the others.